Research Question:What can Korea improve in terms of special education?
Author: Emma Zingg
Korean Association for Special Education. 2007. The nationwide special education survey. Seoul: Choyang Advertisement Integration Printing.
This was a database article that had mainly statistics that showed us that there was a lot of inclusive education for special education students in Korea. This was their way to deal with special education students was to combine them with those who did not receive special support. The education for system for students who needed more support was later edited in 1994 and improved support that was given to students who needed it, this meant smaller classes, educating special kids to the same extent as other students from early years of education.
This article helped me see that special students needed more support in later years because the only real support was given to the kids who are in elementary school. This article actually allowed me to see how much support is in place for these students and it actually shocked me because it seemed that there was more types of solutions made for these students then parents took advantage of. This article made me realize that there is a strong system in place for elementary aged students who had special needs but this support was not as strong as students got older.
Yong-Wook, K. (2014). Inclusive education in South Korea. In International Journal of Inclusive Education (10th ed., Vol. 18).
This article focused on how South Korea go to having inclusive education and what this meant for them as a country. She used facts to support her explanations for what South Korea offered for students. Majority of what Korea had to offer was additional support for those who we assessed as needing it, but generally this support was only provided through elementary school and not any more than that. This article provided the history of what South Korea offered to the students in need of the educational support, additionally it was able to state laws that were put into place to reform the system that was previously in place.
I thought this article was helpful in the way that it provided clear evidence for what type of education the country had to offer, but I think that these laws alone are not doing enough for Korean Students. In order to improve the system educators need to take these laws to the next level by encouraging students to take advantage of the support in place.
Park, J. (2002). Special Education in South Korea. Teaching Exceptional Children, 34(5), 28–33.
This article offers information on the Special Education Promotion Act. This is important because the article argues that we do not give credit to South Korea's special education system as much as we should. The issue with Korea is that the people there do not want to admit to their children having issues, and for this reason the amount of children who have disabilities is much greater than the amount that is reported and receive disability services. This article also makes claim that there has not been much written about the special education system in Korea since there has been these improvements.
I would agree with this statement because I was having issues finding sources on the special education system that they have in place. Considering that there are not a lot of articles focusing on Korean special education shows me that Korea does not publicize the system in the way that they should in order for citizens to be aware.
This source brings up the fact that there is a large amount of students who are in need for special education but instead of helping these children receive them their parents choose to have them not attend school. Some may argue that this is impart because the "support" that Korea provides for their students is not enough. Additionally there is a lack of budget in Korea for the students who receive support, and from these statistics it doe not appear that they will turn around anytime soon. This made a logistical reason for their education system to be open to new students into the support system because they are already lacking funding needed.
It seems to me that due to special education being in demand just as much as it is else where in the world but this need is not being met financially in Korea. It seems that students and their parents are discouraged by what the Korean system offers to their students and as a result opt out on sending their students to school. Clearly this is something that they Korea needs to improve and work special education into their budget because this support is necessary in order for these students to receive equal education.
This article offers multiple programs provided to Korean students by their government. This article covers more than just special education students in fact they discuss what the Korean government does for students who are disadvantaged from receiving the same education as the majority of Korean students. The most important option Korea has to offer its special education students would be counseling services that they offer for students who suffer with ADHD or depression. Another great piece of support that Korea has in place for its students, is testing. This testing is great because it checks to be sure that mainstream public high schools are tending to all students needs and if they are not then they add that student to the special education system. Korea also recently decided to add a new form of education for those students who are not able to be in class and this was called "Alternative Autonomous School".
From my understanding of this article it seems that South Korea is working to help their students to the best of their ability although parents may not take advantage of this help that is being offered to their students. Although I believe from my reading that students with disabilities are not being dealt with in the correct way when it comes to schools using an inclusive system, but Korea does see importance for Korea to be able to offer education to all who is willing to learn.
Overall Reaction to Your Research
What did your research teach you about your original question? How would you sum up what you've learned?
Previous to doing my research I believed that Korea, being one of the highest ranked countries for their education system, did not have many options for students when it came to Special Education. Through my research I was proven wrong and that this was not the case at all. It seems to me that rather then there not being a lot of special education laws in place that there parents are to ashamed to take advantage of the programs that Korea has. In the Korean Constitution it says that, "All citizens have equal rights to receive education according to their capabilities" and that "All people have rights to receive equal education. At least, elementary education is compulsory and free. All educational institutes will be supervised by the government and the educational systems are set by the law". I came to this conclusion that parents did not take advantage of what the Korean government has to offer students when I read the statistic that "By 2007, there were a total of 65,940 students with disabilities, 22,963 of whom (35%) received special education at special schools, 35,340 (54%) received inclusive education in special classrooms, and 7637 (11%) were in general classroom settings" (Korean Association for Special Education 2007). This would never happen in America. It seems to me that Korean parents take too much pride in education and this is because there system is known for its great success.
How does this research help us identify or refine a strategy to improve schools in Rhode Island?
My research helped me realize that its not a question of what the government offers their students but rather weather or not they were aware of what options they have. I think that we should encourage the local government of Rhode Island to provide more funds to help students who need additionally support. Currently it is true that Rhode Island has a lot to offer students with learning disabilities but so does Korea. Therefore it is important that we help out students become aware of what is in place in order to enhance their education and allow it to reach its full potential. We could encourage each town throughout Rhode Island to publicize what services there are in place and what students need in order to receive these services.
Research Question:What can Korea improve in terms of special education?
Author: Emma Zingg
Korean Association for Special Education. 2007. The nationwide special education survey. Seoul: Choyang Advertisement Integration Printing.
This was a database article that had mainly statistics that showed us that there was a lot of inclusive education for special education students in Korea. This was their way to deal with special education students was to combine them with those who did not receive special support. The education for system for students who needed more support was later edited in 1994 and improved support that was given to students who needed it, this meant smaller classes, educating special kids to the same extent as other students from early years of education.
This article helped me see that special students needed more support in later years because the only real support was given to the kids who are in elementary school. This article actually allowed me to see how much support is in place for these students and it actually shocked me because it seemed that there was more types of solutions made for these students then parents took advantage of. This article made me realize that there is a strong system in place for elementary aged students who had special needs but this support was not as strong as students got older.
Yong-Wook, K. (2014). Inclusive education in South Korea. In International Journal of Inclusive Education (10th ed., Vol. 18).
This article focused on how South Korea go to having inclusive education and what this meant for them as a country. She used facts to support her explanations for what South Korea offered for students. Majority of what Korea had to offer was additional support for those who we assessed as needing it, but generally this support was only provided through elementary school and not any more than that. This article provided the history of what South Korea offered to the students in need of the educational support, additionally it was able to state laws that were put into place to reform the system that was previously in place.
I thought this article was helpful in the way that it provided clear evidence for what type of education the country had to offer, but I think that these laws alone are not doing enough for Korean Students. In order to improve the system educators need to take these laws to the next level by encouraging students to take advantage of the support in place.
Park, J. (2002). Special Education in South Korea. Teaching Exceptional Children, 34(5), 28–33.
This article offers information on the Special Education Promotion Act. This is important because the article argues that we do not give credit to South Korea's special education system as much as we should. The issue with Korea is that the people there do not want to admit to their children having issues, and for this reason the amount of children who have disabilities is much greater than the amount that is reported and receive disability services. This article also makes claim that there has not been much written about the special education system in Korea since there has been these improvements.
I would agree with this statement because I was having issues finding sources on the special education system that they have in place. Considering that there are not a lot of articles focusing on Korean special education shows me that Korea does not publicize the system in the way that they should in order for citizens to be aware.
Asian Correspondent Asia News. (n.d.). Retrieved November 14, 2014, from http://asiancorrespondent.com/21995/the-state-of-special-education-in-korea/
This source brings up the fact that there is a large amount of students who are in need for special education but instead of helping these children receive them their parents choose to have them not attend school. Some may argue that this is impart because the "support" that Korea provides for their students is not enough. Additionally there is a lack of budget in Korea for the students who receive support, and from these statistics it doe not appear that they will turn around anytime soon. This made a logistical reason for their education system to be open to new students into the support system because they are already lacking funding needed.
It seems to me that due to special education being in demand just as much as it is else where in the world but this need is not being met financially in Korea. It seems that students and their parents are discouraged by what the Korean system offers to their students and as a result opt out on sending their students to school. Clearly this is something that they Korea needs to improve and work special education into their budget because this support is necessary in order for these students to receive equal education.
NCEE, South Korea: Education For All. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ncee.org/programs-affiliates/center-on-international-education-benchmarking/top-performing-countries/south-korea-overview/south-korea-education-for-all/
This article offers multiple programs provided to Korean students by their government. This article covers more than just special education students in fact they discuss what the Korean government does for students who are disadvantaged from receiving the same education as the majority of Korean students. The most important option Korea has to offer its special education students would be counseling services that they offer for students who suffer with ADHD or depression. Another great piece of support that Korea has in place for its students, is testing. This testing is great because it checks to be sure that mainstream public high schools are tending to all students needs and if they are not then they add that student to the special education system. Korea also recently decided to add a new form of education for those students who are not able to be in class and this was called "Alternative Autonomous School".
From my understanding of this article it seems that South Korea is working to help their students to the best of their ability although parents may not take advantage of this help that is being offered to their students. Although I believe from my reading that students with disabilities are not being dealt with in the correct way when it comes to schools using an inclusive system, but Korea does see importance for Korea to be able to offer education to all who is willing to learn.
Overall Reaction to Your Research
What did your research teach you about your original question? How would you sum up what you've learned?
Previous to doing my research I believed that Korea, being one of the highest ranked countries for their education system, did not have many options for students when it came to Special Education. Through my research I was proven wrong and that this was not the case at all. It seems to me that rather then there not being a lot of special education laws in place that there parents are to ashamed to take advantage of the programs that Korea has. In the Korean Constitution it says that, "All citizens have equal rights to receive education according to their capabilities" and that "All people have rights to receive equal education. At least, elementary education is compulsory and free. All educational institutes will be supervised by the government and the educational systems are set by the law". I came to this conclusion that parents did not take advantage of what the Korean government has to offer students when I read the statistic that "By 2007, there were a total of 65,940 students with disabilities, 22,963 of whom (35%) received special education at special schools, 35,340 (54%) received inclusive education in special classrooms, and 7637 (11%) were in general classroom settings" (Korean Association for Special Education 2007). This would never happen in America. It seems to me that Korean parents take too much pride in education and this is because there system is known for its great success.
How does this research help us identify or refine a strategy to improve schools in Rhode Island?
My research helped me realize that its not a question of what the government offers their students but rather weather or not they were aware of what options they have. I think that we should encourage the local government of Rhode Island to provide more funds to help students who need additionally support. Currently it is true that Rhode Island has a lot to offer students with learning disabilities but so does Korea. Therefore it is important that we help out students become aware of what is in place in order to enhance their education and allow it to reach its full potential. We could encourage each town throughout Rhode Island to publicize what services there are in place and what students need in order to receive these services.